Changing places can be very difficult sometimes. Starting a life in a different place that you might not be used to or just living a different lifestyle. I went through that phase many times. The first time was because something that had a big impact in my life happened. My mom and dad gotten divorced. It mostly affected me because I was the oldest and had much more memories with my dad than my brother and sister.
When you are a military spouse, moving frequently is common, which makes finding a place to call home difficult. Colorado was where I was born and raised. However, Texas was home to me. I enjoyed the warm weather, and how I was only a fourteen hour drive from home. While living in Texas, I learned a lot about myself and grew as a person. I had a great career opportunity managing a 240 unit apartment complex, I had good friends and enjoyed everything Texas had to offer.
I was born and raised in Philadelphia. However, when I was quite young, financial hardship made it impossible for my family to remain in the area, and we uprooted to Florida so my parents could provide for us. Life in Florida has not always been sunny. My father, who has a very limited education, has struggled to gain employment and has worked seven days a week as a manual laborer, while my mother works her hardest to supplement his income and take care of us. Watching my parents toil and struggle from a young age made me realize that I needed to do whatever I could to ensure we all could have a better life. The key to that is striving to receive the best education possible and working my hardest to meet my potential. However, I find that
Just like my mother had said, starting over was not an easy task, the first few months were not easy, I felt extreme homesickness, I was experiencing for the first time being almost fully independent, and I had to learn how to solve problems on my own, for example commuting in a unfamiliar city. However, there was not a second when I regretted this experience, on the contrary, this opened my appetite to more traveling, due to the fact that I meet so much new people, saw that there was more to life, than what I was used to seeing every day, and most importantly I learned about myself. I firmly believe that in order to fully know yourself, you need to experience different cultures. For example, In Washington due to the cold weather, I had no other option but to stay in doors, as a result, I discovered my passion for painting, something I otherwise would had not learned about myself if I stayed in Mexico. Not only this but making art helped me during the hardest periods of my life; it helped me understand that I could transform whatever bad thing was happening, in to something beautiful.
Growing up, I was not so much of an angelic girl. Around the age of nine, I moved from Brooklyn, New York to Philadelphia. Moving to a new place is never really a smooth transition, but it didn’t take long for me to get to know many people in my school and in my neighborhood. My life in Philly was wonderful; I was living the life. At least that was what I thought. The problem was, I did not choose my friends wisely. It got as horrid as becoming affiliated with a gang called “N.I.C. (Niggas in Charge)/ B.I.C. (Bitches in Charge).” Although the ages throughout the group varied, the majority of us were little kids, who thought we were grown. I went from sweet to bitter and that was when my life deteriorated.
Life in the middle school and high school was not easy for me. I had become an introvert, I still didn’t know how to be social, and I had very few friends. I was teased for being very quiet, and some people insinuated that I’m scared of fellow people. On the other hand life at home was difficult. My mother had become so bitter and pleased her was next to impossible. She became very harsh with my brother and me, and we were always scolded for even the smallest mistakes. Once in a while, my father would come for us and take us to the city he lived. I would look out of the windows as we drove out of town and would imagine how life in another city would feel like. I looked at the skies, and all I saw were promises of a better future. All my life I had lived in San
El Paso, Texas is a relatively large city with a small town attitude. It is one of those cities that grows on you. I embrace the laid back lifestyle and bi-cultural environment - it’s given me an opportunity to develop a unique bicultural identity that influences my motivation to succeed. Especially, being the daughter of an immigrant that upholds Mexican culture. The majority of the population is hispanic, which gave me the sense of mexican traditions that I would share with my family in Mexico. Growing up bilingual ironically provided me comfort in the community. Also, the efforts of the community are being made to modernize and improve the city.
It was a warm sunny morning in the beautiful hills of California, I was just waking up as I opened the curtains you could see downtown Los Angles in the distance. I walked down stairs started by coffee, and the tv it was just past 7:00 as my children woke up for school it was also around the same time my maid called and told me she wasn’t coming in to work today. I was just getting ready to sit down as my kids came running down the stairs, they were 16,17 and they both go to one of the best high schools in California. My family had lots of nice things but my kids thought that it wall came from this app my friend and I made but it didn’t. it started one night when I was in a nice club in down town Los Angles when I ran into this guy my buddy knew little did I know this guy was a big time drug dealer, we started hanging out a lot and then shortly we started doing business he would have drugs smuggled into Los Angles and then I would sell them to the street level guys but I only did business
I’m going to start out with the place I’ve lived my whole life Gresham, Oregon. It’s a pretty good thing having lived Gresham my whole life. Everything is super close like parks, stores, and schools. It was the best to grow up in opinion I got to see some stuff I should avoid and got to meet people that were helpful in my life. Also a plus of living in a smaller city is if you meet one person when you go to the park you will most likely see them another time. I have friends I played basketball with at Highland one year ago and still play against them to this day. There's a community more in Gresham, I think no one's afraid to talk to each other or ask for help and if someone needs help they won’t shrug them off. That’s one thing I don’t really see if other places everyone else has their own agenda and that doesn’t include knowing your neighbors. That’s insane, but it makes me happy that Gresham has friendly people unlike other cities. Maybe some of that is to do with schooling which is the next thing I want to talk about.
Every year, in el Paso Texas there is a comic convention. This past year I was able to attend the el Paso comic con, unknowing of what to expect. I entered amazed by the sights sounds and people in this one building. People dressed up as their favorite charters, folks selling props and other materials. At that moment I realized all the planning I had done and work I put into going will all be worth it.